| Manmo
Temple (1847 onward) other
sites in Hong Kong |
|
Click on the above images to enlarge
Manmo Temple is dedicated to the gods of literature and war. The former was born in 287 AD as Man Cheong and controls the destinies of civil servants. The god of war, Mo (also Kwan Kung & Kwan Ti) was born around 160 AD He is revered by Hong Kong's police, and also brings protection to pawnbrokers and members of the underworld.
This temple is one of the older ones on Hong Kong Island and the atmosphere is very informal compared to temples on the mainland. There are cats wandering around the temple grounds and huge coils of incense hanging from the ceiling. There are several rooms to the temple and each has an image on the wall farthest from the entrance. There are guardians and altars and subordinate images everywhere with inscriptions on the walls and the whole place is filled with heavy smoke from the incense and from the burning of “spirit money” in the two large ovens near the door. In addition to the gods of literature and war there were statues to all sorts of other Taoist and Buddhist deities, such as Kuanin, the goddess of mercy, who is associated with the Buddhist bodhisattva, Avalokitesvara. Just down the road there were three or four other temples to Kuanin and other gods that were very similar, only busier and on a smaller scale.
Bibliography:
All images copyright 2001 Professor
Kerk L. Phillips of Brigham Young University, Utah, USA.
Visit his webpage at www.pomosa.com
Morgan, Kerry: Hong Kong Handbook
Moon Publications. Hong
Kong: 1995